Indian Companies Gear Up For Defence Orders On Modi's 'Buy India' Pledge

Encouraged by Modi government's pledge to upgrade the armed forces using domestic factories, Indian companies are pumping billions of dollars into manufacturing guns, ships and tanks for defence purpose.

Even before his election victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to stress on India's military competence and meet the security challenges posed by the neighbours.

Launching a domestic-built naval destroyer last week, Modi said, "My government has taken important steps in improving indigenous defence technology... We can guarantee peace if our military is modernised."

"The opportunity is huge. We really expect quicker implementation. There are signs that this government is very keen to grow indigenisation," said MV Kotwal, president (Heavy Engineering) at Larsen and Toubro Ltd, one of India's biggest industrial houses.

"The policy in India has been right since 2006. The problem has been implementation," said Rahul Chaudhry, CEO of Tata Power SED, which manufactures rocket launchers, sensors and radars.